T. Boone Pickens visiting USI, focused on cheap energy

How can America become a stronger and more prosperous nation? T. Boone Pickens has a three-word solution: Cheap domestic energy.

"We've got the cheapest energy in the world now in the United States," Pickens said during a telephone interview several weeks ago from BP Capital, the Dallas-based energy investment firm he founded.

"Our oil is 20 percent cheaper, natural gas is 75 percent cheaper, and our gasoline is 50 percent cheaper. And all of that adds up to a huge opportunity for our country to build on the back of cheap energy and restore the economy."

Pickens plans to visit the University of Southern Indiana April 4.

At age 84, Pickens' career in energy spans decades. A geologist by training, he worked for Phillips Petroleum for three years after college, before setting out with two other investors to form their own company in 1954. That company became known as Mesa Petroleum and it grew to become one of the nation's largest independent oil and gas companies. Pickens sold Mesa in 1996.

Pickens went on to found both BP Capital and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. Clean Energy supplies natural gas fuel for vehicles in the U.S. and Canada.

Pickens is a firm believer that the U.S. should break free from its dependence on oil from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries — OPEC.

"We would be much more powerful as a country in the world. You could reduce your trade deficit immeasurably. Two-thirds of the trade deficit is the purchase of foreign oil."

Pickens is equally firm in his belief that the current shale gas boom presents a huge opportunity.

Recent advances in hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, have allowed energy companies to tap into deposits of oil and natural gas that were previously thought to be inaccessible. The result: Abundant domestic supplies of low-cost natural gas.

"What's happened is, your oil and gas industry in America has done an unbelievable job of advancing technology in order to recover natural gas and oil from what we call source rocks. Ten years ago, if you were to tell me this conversation would take place — I'm a geologist — I would tell you it wasn't realistic," Pickens said.

Oil, diesel fuel and gasoline won't disappear any time soon, Pickens said, but with its new ability to tap into natural gas reserves America has a huge opportunity.

In recent years he's been pushing natural gas as a vehicle fuel, with mixed results.

On an interview with Chris Wallas on FOX News last June, Pickens outlined his idea of converting America's 18-wheelers to natural gas. This move alone, he said, would cut American dependence on OPEC oil by nearly 70 percent.

He proposed to do this through federal legislation known as the NAT GAS Act, which would provide tax credits to companies to build natural gas fueling stations across the country.

That legislation did not pass the Senate.

But Pickens said simple economics make the move toward natural gas inevitable, even without government support.

"I have a sizable (business) interest in clean energy fuels, who does fuel both compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. But that, that's going to happen not because Boone Pickens is out promoting it. It's because the fuel is $2 a gallon cheaper than diesel."

Natural gas can also spur economic development, such as fertilizer plants and other types of manufacturing, Pickens said. Natural gas is a raw material in fertilizer production, and recently two separate fertilizer plant projects have been proposed in Southwestern Indiana alone. One is proposed for Spencer County, another in Posey County.

Speaking of energy, Pickens has plenty of it himself.

He said he has no interest in retirement, and he exercises every day with his longtime trainer.

His fitness regime, he said, includes 15 minutes on the treadmill (set at a 10 percent incline and a speed of 4 miles per hour); plus strength exercises that target different body parts each day: chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs, abs.

"Now that's a real workout. None of my grandsons can keep up with me."